Who's Listening?: What Our Kids Are Trying to Tell Us

by Jerry Johnston

As one of America's leading authorities on youth culture, Johnston receives thousands of letters each year. Johnston believes that parents need to understand the world their teenagers live in--and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0310578701
• ISBN13: 9780310578703
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company
• Length: 174 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Teen Troubles

For a decade Jerry Johnston worked with America's teenagers; he spoke to four million of them in some 3,000 schools and written books such as Why Suicide? and Going All the Way: The Real World of Teens and Sex. In this publication, he asks a good question: Who's Listening? What Our Kids Are Trying to Tell Us (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, c. 1992). In his supportive foreword, Josh McDowell (like Johnston a veteran of interacting with young people) pinpoints the book's focus by saying: "In my years of working with young people, I can hones¬tly say that most of the serious problems associated with teenagers could have been averted with properly expressed parental love. Most of the kids who went over the edge into sexual promiscuity, alcohol and substance abuse, or other aberrant behaviors could have been saved by a loving mom and dad who spent more time listening" (p. 9). Johnston himself has listened and "learned that kids live in a world completely different from the world their parents lived in as teenagers. I've learned that pressure to use alcohol and other illegal drugs is almost impossible to stand up to--that girls almost he same age as my daughter have experienced group sex--that satanic rituals have attracted the attention of hundreds of young people--and that suicide has become an attractive option for far too many kids" (pp. 15-16). Yet, perhaps, even more tragic is the underlying reason for such self-destructive behavior. All too many "teenagers feel as if no one cares about them--that no one is listening" (p. 16). The "no one," basically, refers to their parents! Johnston gets thousands of letters and phone calls from kids who just want to be heard. They've had enough preaching. Parents usually preach well to their kids! What they need is a loving ear. Given that focus, Johnston structures his book in accord with subjects aired in letters he's received, teenagers' concerns about suicide, family problems, violence, homosexuality, alcohol, abortion, drug abuse, satanism, pregnancy, rape, and mental/emotional illness. Finally, he lists "twenty prescriptions for effective communication with teenagers." Our kids are killing themselves. In the last forty years, suicide has surged from the fifth to the second cause of teenage death. "Ten percent of teenage boys and 18% of teenage girls have attempted suicide" (p. 22). Such kids explain that "their parents don't care--that they never have time for them; that they never listen" (p. 23). Family problems are breaking our kids' hearts. "The American family has broken down, and our kids are trying to pick up the pieces" (p. 32). They long for happy, healthy homes, but working moms and dads just don't seem to have the time or interest necessary to build the secure fortresses they need. And in the process our kids have grown frightened, sad, lonely, angry, and confused. Then there's violence. Schools are often battlegrounds rat

This book is a MUST for every parent!!

Listen Up!"As every missionary knows, you cannot reach a people group anywhere without first understanding their culture, " Jerry Johnston reminds us. In Who's Listening? he sounds a clarion call to galvanize parents of teenagers to try to understand the world that kids of the '90s live in (a very different society from that of previous decades). Johnston implores parents and nurturing adults to listen to the cries for help from what could become a lost generation.Believing firmly that parents must make this effort if their sons and daughters are to survive in today's world, Johnston buttresses his agruments with excerpts from some of the thousands of letters he has received from troubled teenagers who have heard him speak in their school assemblies. (Often heart-wrenching letters like the one that said, "I want to kill myself because no one in my family wants me around and school is not going well for me and no one at school likes me. I'm so confused. Please help me!")These kids tell him what they desperately wish they could tell their parents about such problems as SUICIDE, THE ACCULT, RAPE, DRUG ABUSE, VIOLENCE, AIDS, ABORTION, SATANISM, HOMOSEXUALITY, and TEEN PREGNANCY.Who's Listening? is a reader-friendly, practical book - a catalyst that outlines the steps that parents can take to help their son or daughter (or the kid next door) to cope with the pressures and temptations of the 1990's youth subculture.HERE IS WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DR. JERRY JOHNSTON and "WHO'S LISTENING?":"Jerry Johnston knows firsthand what he's talking about." Detroit Free Press"Few people of our time are better qualified to minister to the youth of our nation than Jerry Johnston. WHO'S LISTENING? uniquely captures the dreadful realities that all our children now fact, and tells us how to help them. Every parent must read this book." Bill Bright, Founder and President, Campus Crusade for Christ International"Jerry Johnston has been! establishing an unmatched record over the past decade as one of the nation's greatest missionaries to troubled youth. WHO'S LISTENING? is a confirmation of his expertise and dedication to reaching teenagers who need help. Here is a genuine wake-up call to parents, lawmakers, teachers, counselors, and all concerned Americans who would save our children." Dr. James Kennedy, Ph.D., Senior Pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church"Jerry Johnston has his heart on the pulse of today's teens like few other evangelists. You will be deeply moved and informed by the biblical answers he provides for the 21st century problems our anti-Christian culture forces young people to cope with." Dr. Tim LaHaye, Author, Minister, Educator"No one speaks to the hears of today's kids like Jerry Johnston, and in this dynamic book they talk back. WHO'S LISTENING? is must reading for every parent and teen." Dr. Richard G. Lee, Pastor Rehoboth Baptist Church"Anyone who has done hands-on youth work will immediately realize that Jerry Johnston has been liste